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I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



The Friendship of Jesus 



REV. FRANK SAMUEL CHILD 

Author of " Be Strong to Hope," " The Gospel of Good 
Cheer," etc. 



NEW YORK 
The Baker & Taylor Company, 740 & 742 Broadway — C-y ^7 

MDCCCXCIV / O ' 9 " ^Vr 




K- 






.-right 1894 
. S. Child. 



TO 

THE FRIEND 

WHO HAS COMMITTED HIMSELF 

WITH SERENE AND HOPEFUL CONFIDENCE 

TO THIS DIVINE-HUMAN FRIENDSHIP 



CONTENTS. 



Friendship, - 7 

Friendship of Jesus, • • 14 

Friendship of Jesus for Children, - 19 

Friendship of Jesus for Youth, - - 27 

Friendship of Jesus for Men, - • 37 

Friendship of Jesus for Women, - 46 

Friendship of Jesus in Its Ministry to Human 

Need, .... 54 



I. 

FRIENDSHIP. 

The fruit which we pluck from the 
boughs of Friendship is rich in flavor, 
solid in substance, abundant in nourish- 
ment. 

Kinship does not always bind two 
souls into intimacy. There may be such 
lack of affinity and mutual understand- 
ing that the two find it impossible to 
get close together. Just as deep, dark 
canons divide some western landscape, 
and make access and communication 
between the two parts difficult and in- 
frequent. But Friendship cements 
souls so that there is the flow of a 
common life. One lives in another 
and for another. There is a free gift 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 



of the friend himself. And this is the 
highest, divinest relation. 

The nature of Friendship has been 
explained by gifted and eloquent men. 
These men have helped to some real- 
ization of the passion. Friendship is 
love in its most exalted form. There 
are degrees, but the word gathers into 
its heart the very best and deepest 
things of human and divine affection. 
It signifies love that is purged of dross. 
Greater love hath no man than this, 
that he lay down his life for his friend. 
It takes smallest thought or makes small- 
est account of self. This is attachment 
which is always concerned about the 
things that may be said or borne or 
done or saved for the one that is the 
object of Friendship. It is, therefore, 
not only unselfish, but it is also self- 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 



forgetful, never being plagued with 
consciousness of self. When affection 
becomes absorbed in the welfare and 
happiness of a friend, there is small 
space left in the heart for the trivial 
thoughts which concern themselves 
about one's personal enjoyment. There 
is a something in the one who is the 
object of Friendship that holds the 
friend. Instead of planning what 
others may be to us, we plan what we 
may be to them. Getting any return 
is merely an incidental thing. It is 
a curious fact that the more we give 
the more we get, but this law of com- 
pensation is forgotten in the exercise 
of real Friendship. "It is more the 
part of a friend to confer than to re- 
ceive favors, " says Aristotle. Although, 
as Cicero teaches, " advantage springs 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 



up of itself from Friendship, even while 
you have not pursued it." 

M He who giving does not crave, 
Likest is to him who gave 
Life itself the loved to save." 

Friendship serves the interests of the 
brother man and at the same time helps 
to perfect self. The needs of the 
soul are common. God has planted 
this instinct of Friendship within us. 
Ruth was bound to Naomi by such a 
tie. The name Ruth stands for friend. 
1 ' Entreat me not to leave thee, and 
to return from following after thee : 
for whither thou goest I will go; 
and where thou lodgest I will lodge : 
thy people shall be my people and thy 
God my God. Where thou diest will 
I die, and there will I be buried. The 
Lord do so to me and more also, if 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 



aught but death part thee and me." 
So this friend clung to the desolate 
Naomi, and by virtue of such a Friend- 
ship did she serve the generations to 
come and receive great honor of God. 
The very disinterestedness of Friend- 
ship goes far to inspire men unto better 
thought and nobler deed. It opens to 
us all the larger powers of life, and 
the world gets richer in true worth. 
While Friendship is always gaining 
these results, we must not forget that 
it is unconsciously working out ele- 
vation and ennoblement for the friend 
himself. ' ' Friendship is the heaven- 
ordained relationship on which de- 
pends the correction of one's charac- 
ter ; for by it the way of men is traced 
out, and men's highest principles are 
built up," says a great Chinese teacher. 



12 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

Many a man has been loved by his 
friend into newness and beauty of char- 
acter. There is that within the human 
spirit which responds swiftly to the 
pressure of such affection. It comes 
into the heart with a certain sanctify- 
ing grace. Impulses are communi- 
cated that contain all promise of up- 
lift. The love seems to get hold of 
the soul not only to restrain the bad, 
but just as well to strengthen and en- 
courage the good. According to a 
way that is simply its own, this divine 
force of pure Friendship becomes the 
great factor in life so that everything is 
finally shaped by it. With this free, 
glad expression of itself, there is also 
the constant joy of conferring benefits 
upon the object of love. It requires 
tact to administer with profit the re- 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 1 3 

proof which may be essential to the 
good of a loved one. It is often diffi- 
cult to instruct those that are part of 
life itself. Yet Friendship works in 
these ways and never wearies because 
the burden is heavy. A friend has 
been denned as another self. The 
great advantage comes to one of look- 
ing upon life from another point of 
view. We benefit not only by our 
own consideration of a matter, but 
also by the independent judgment of 
the other self. Meanwhile the com- 
mon flow of life between two souls 
makes the man doubly strong for 
work, 



II. 

FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 
Precious are the illustrations of 
Friendship. You have read how 
Livingstone gathered about him a 
little company of faithful servants in 
Africa. They clung to him with un- 
failing devotion through all the months 
of his isolation in the wilds of the in- 
terior. They were with him when he 
died. Superstitious as they were, and 
contrary as it was to their customs and 
laws, and difficult as the undertaking 
proved, these dark skinned inhabitants 
of Africa conveyed the master's re- 
mains to the coast. It was an evidence 
of Friendship's power. For these 
poor fellows perilled life with every 
step that they took. 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 1 5 

When we come among people that 
are highly civilized we naturally ex- 
pect that we shall find illustrious ex- 
amples of Friendship. It seems to us 
quite the thing that Goethe and Schil- 
ler should love each other. Two great 
strong men engaged upon the problems 
of existence, they certainly should 
share each others affection. When 
v/e read the story of Friendship be- 
tween Martin Luther and Philip Me- 
lancthon there comes into the heart a 
feeling that this were a most fitting 
union. The pathetic record of Friend- 
ship between Tennyson and Hallam, 
left us in "In Memoriam," stirs the 
soul to profound sense of human na- 
ture's possibilities. And so we come 
to think upon Friendship as that 
which lifts man into a realm of exalted 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 



enjoyment such as words are not 
strong enough to picture. We wonder 
not that art, music, literature are per- 
vaded with the sentiments and im- 
pulses of Friendship. And when we 
turn to that narrative in the history of 
Israel where David and Jonathan ap- 
pear and we behold these two young 
men knitted together by an affection 
that triumphs over all obstacles and 
continues uninterruptedly to the tragic 
end, we are possessed by the thought 
that this is one of the great, eventful 
privileges in life. 

We therefore have some expectation 
that Jesus, perfect spirit among men, 
will teach us the deep and essential 
truth concerning that which is so im- 
portant in the world. There is a 
friend that sticketh closer than a 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 1 7 

brother. He is one that is wedded to 
the heart in this close way. Scripture 
tells us that Jesus himself is such a 
friend. 

We are none of us so careless, busy, 
successful that we do not feel this secret 
need of Friendship. It is a craving which 
must be satisfied or the nature itself is 
dwarfed and crippled. It is not al- 
ways easy to find the heart that will 
meet this great demand. We are 
often disappointed in our friends. 
With all that may be said in their 
favor, they are human and fallible. 
They are sometimes swerved by other 
considerations than affection. Cir- 
cumstances may take such a turn that 
we lose friends. It is also true that 
they sometimes misinterpret us. They 
have not gotten down to the depths of 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 



our nature, and they do not understand 
us. One of man's sore trials is human 
misinterpretation. It is obvious that 
Friendship between man and man is 
sustained under difficulties and dis- 
couragements. But the Friendship of 
Jesus is absolutely disinterested. It 
contains no element of imperfection. 
It is constant. We are to remember 
that this friend loves when men are 
still estranged from him, Jesus lays 
down life for his enemies, that he may 
make them his friends. And so we 
may say all the true things concerning 
Friendship which history, observation, 
experience prompt us to say, and we 
have just passed along the edges of 
truth in respect to Friendship as taught 
in Jesus, 



III. 

THE FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS FOR 
CHILDREN. 

Men sometimes have a feeling that 
the little people are not of much im- 
portance. The impulse to push them 
one side rises in the soul. That was 
the mood of the apostles when certain 
mothers brought their children to the 
Master. Why should anyone inter- 
rupt the work and speech of Jesus by 
drawing his attention to a company of 
babies. But the Master rebukes the 
interference of his associates. Very 
likely they had no children of their 
own, and therefore were not in sym- 
pathy with child life. But Jesus said, 
4 ' Suffer little children, and forbid them 



20 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

not, to come unto me, for of such is the 
kingdom of heaven." We are never 
to forget that Jesus himself was once a 
child. He passed through the portals 
of childhood into his youth and man- 
hood, so that he knew all about the 
conditions, promises, forces held with- 
in the infant spirit. We can easily 
imagine the love which he looked from 
his eyes whenever he touched a child. 
The little people always know the 
men that are well disposed toward 
them. There is a subtle instinct 
which instructs. And Jesus won their 
hearts so that they turned toward him 
just as plants turn toward light, or 
clinging vines twine upon stalwart 
trees. There is something about a 
little child that is suggestive of the 
celestial city. Their innocency and 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 



naturalness, their frankness and sim- 
plicity seem to say that they may be 
recent travelers from that holy realm. 
At any rate, Jesus measured them and 
held them in the closest affection. 
He recals an old song which says, 
' ' Out of the mouth of babes and suck- 
lings hast thou perfected praise. " The 
thought is that God uses the children 
for the most sacred offices. They are 
often able to do what men, with all 
their wisdom and experience, can not 
do. Then Jesus teaches that " whoso 
shall receive one such little child in 
my name receiveth me." Thus child- 
hood is crowned with another honor. 
The Master so identifies himself with 
children that anybody who helps them 
into better life is actually doing some- 
thing for Christ himself. And close 



2 2 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

upon this statement comes the reverse 
case. ' ' But whososhall offend one of 
these little ones which believe in me, 
it were better for him that a millstone 
were hanged about his neck, and that 
he were drowned in the depths of the 
sea." He regards the children with 
such absorbing concern that he says, 
further : ' ' Take heed that ye despise 
not one of these little ones ; for I 
say unto you that in heaven their 
angels do always behold the face of 
my father which is in heaven. " The 
idea seems to be that they have some 
especial and intimate relation to the 
divine Father, so that we must treat 
them with marked consideration. We 
can almost see the flush of triumphant 
love mantle the cheek of Jesus as he 
says, * ' It is not the will of your Father 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 23 

which is in heaven that one of these 
little ones should perish." The life 
and death of Jesus gathers them all 
into the kingdom, and he thinks upon 
them as his precious treasures, their 
beauty to be revealed in the light 
of the new Jerusalem. Enough of 
their nature is shown here, however, 
to enable him to say that ' ' Ex- 
cept ye be converted and become 
as little children, ye shall not enter 
into the kingdom of heaven." There 
is something about them which is so 
precious that it is necessary men 
should be like them to that extent or 
the door of the kingdom is shut against 
them. And then, as if to exalt chil- 
hood still higher, he says, "Whoso- 
ever shall humble himself as this little 
child, the same is greatest in the king- 



24 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

dom of heaven." Now as you think of 
all these sayings, can you call Jesus 
other than the friend of children ? Bear 
in mind that back of every word there 
throbs a spirit of life that is infinite in 
reach and power. It is no wonder that 
the children carried palms in their 
hands and shoutedHosannah whenjesus 
entered the holy city. He was their 
best and greatest friend, and the little 
people knew it. He understood their 
nature as it was never fathomed by 
other spirit. And he made the gospel 
so plain and pure a message that it ap- 
pealed with force to the child mind 
and heart. When you remember how 
the high and mighty of earth become 
so absorbed in public affairs that they 
think naught of children, that the 
sweep of their plans is such that an in- 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 25 

significant personality like a child is 
scarce ever mentioned, does it not 
come home to the soul that here is one 
of the noblest and divinest character- 
istics of our Master, that he loved 
children and was loved by them ? So 
you observe that whenever he comes 
among them he treats them with an 
honor, a confidence, a devotion that 
are simply matchless in human annals. 
Yet he had the work of the world rest- 
ing upon his shoulders, and he was 
living in constant travail of soul for 
the world's sake. 

What we are to understand by this 
Friendship of Jesus for the children is 
just this : Here is One who once him- 
self a child, has gathered into his 
being all the life of childhood, and 
made it a sacred, beautiful part of hu- 



26 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

man life on earth. He comes to min- 
ister unto children with just the same 
affluence and majesty of service that 
marks his way with men. He sought 
the companionship of little people, he 
talked with them, he thought upon 
their cares and trials. There was just 
as much sympathy welling up from 
his heart for a child burdened with his 
small trouble that there was for a man 
burdened with his large trouble. It 
was the soul's capacity to receive alone 
that measured his helpfulness. And 
so it means that just as Jesus went 
about bringing sunshine and happiness 
into child life, while he walked the 
hills and valleys of Palestine, so he 
goes about to-day with all the abund- 
ance of his grace and love and joy. 
Jesus is the supreme friend of the 
children. 



IV. 

THE FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS FOR 
YOUTH. 

That was a strange interview which 
Jesus had with the doctors in the Tem- 
ple. He was only twelve, yet there 
was manifest a grace of spirit, a wis- 
dom of heart, a power of mind, that 
startled and fascinated the learned 
men with whom he talked. Neverthe- 
less we are told that he went back to 
Nazareth and there remained subject 
to his parents. He was a youth who 
had matured with marked rapidity. 
The boys of twelve among these east- 
ern people are apt to be precocious in 
their development. But Jesus did not 
trifle with his gifts and powers. 



28 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

Nothing is more contrary to the spirit of 
the gospel than the apocryphal stories 
of his wonder-workings. He tarries 
in obscurity through the years of youth, 
and all the testimony which we glean 
simply states that he increased in wis- 
dom and stature and in favor with God 
and man. We see that there w r as an 
orderly development of the nature. 
He passes through all the experiences 
that are incident to the unfolding of 
our common life. When we read that 
he was tempted in all points like 
as we are, yet without sin, it is 
helpful to youth to remember that 
Jesus knew well the peculiar trials that 
press into the life of the young, so that 
he is not one talking without experi- 
mental knowledge when he meets the 
youth of Palestine and speaks with 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 



them concerning their needs and pros- 
pects. Just as soon as he begins his 
work he shows a keen affection for the 
young. This were- quite natural, for 
he was a young man himself, and con- 
genial fellowship would most likely be 
found among people near his age. But 
this were not a sufficient explanation. 
He made people of all classes, ages, 
conditions, his friends, and drew to 
himself these diverse representatives 
of society. 

His Friendship for youth was simply 
a continuation and expansion of his 
love relation with the children. As 
his life unfolded it could not help but 
take into its sway the comrade spirits 
that looked out upon the world with 
something of the same ambition and 
hopefulness. We must think of Jesus 



30 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

as moved by the like stimulating in- 
fluences, and ripened by the like 
human forces that bear down upon us 
in early life. He was sensitive as we 
are. He was curious and thoughtful. 
He dreams concerning the things of 
destiny. He would work out for him- 
self the human problem. To all these 
things he brings the sinless nature, to 
be sure, but he is still the youth look- 
ing tentatively upon life, and wonder- 
ing what it shall bring to him, and 
how it shall take final shape among 
the many forces that press against it. 
It seems a fitting occasion that his 
mother chooses when he performs his 
first miracle. What place more 
natural for a young man than a wed- 
ding, or some festal occasion ? He 
certainly liked to see the brightness 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 3 1 

and enjoyment of life as it was sug- 
gested by a friend's marriage. And the 
very miracle which he performed was 
a sort of announcement that Jesus did 
not come to take any pure, real joy 
out of life, but that he proposed to 
refine and sanctify the common expe- 
rience of men. He will do what lies 
in his power, to gladden and adorn 
life. Just so soon as he enters upon 
his great ministry to the world, he 
gathers about him helpers. Many 
of these people were young. Jesus 
himself had graduated into man- 
hood. Numbers of the people that 
followed him closely were people that 
had just attained the years of tran- 
sition when new forces brought to bear 
upon them were most effective. Jesus 
made friends with the young element 



32 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

of Jewish society. The older people 
let him alone, except to harass him 
and antagonize his work. Jesus 
probably felt that his hope of success 
lay with the young. The old pasture 
lands of these unfertile Jewish hearts 
made poor soil for the sowing of spir- 
itual seed. The large responsiveness 
and abundant harvest was to be found 
among the youthful element. We 
marvel not, therefore, when we ob- 
serve how Jesus made friends among 
the young. It was the dictate of na- 
ture, the course of wise policy, as well 
as the impulse of affection. We read 
that a rich young man came to Jesus 
and asked how he might inherit eter- 
nal life. And we read that Jesus 
looked upon him and loved him. It 
was the secret force of a genuine 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 33 

Friendship which reached out for the 
young. And it was thoroughly hu- 
man. We would therefore expect that 
Jesus would take people young in 
years for the college of apostles. And 
we are to think upon the Master as 
having closest intimacy with the 
friends that are chosen from this por- 
tion of society. 

Now, does not this fact make us 
feel that the Friendship which Jesus 
exercises toward the young, has a most 
profound and inspiring significance ? 
He knows us altogether. His heart 
was full of all the inspirations and 
aspirations that are peculiar to young 
people. Why, then, should he not 
come, as no other spirit has ever come, 
into the life of youth. We are too apt 
to restrict our notions of religion to 



34 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

that class of persons passed beyond 
the limits of youthfulness. On the 
contrary, the Saviour, who is the 
source and power of the Christian 
Faith, was a young man, surrounded 
by young people, filled with the 
courage and enthusiam of youth, sus- 
tained by their confidence and loyalty. 
If, then, there be any person in all the 
world that has grace, strength, sym- 
pathy, inspiritment, wisdom for the 
young, that person is Jesus. And it is 
for this reason that we point to this 
phase of Jesus' Friendship. Some one 
to lean upon when we make our start 
in the world. Is that not a common 
need of the young ? It is important 
that we have good counsel, get into 
an atmosphere of helpful influences, 
receive a certain invigorating sym- 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 35 

pathy just as we throw ourselves into 
the struggle of life. We may be so 
fortunate as to know some man that 
will do all this for us, but it is a rare 
thing. This is the opportunity of 
Jesus. He comes with all the re- 
sources of the divine nature, and gives 
himself for the good of his people. 
Such service is the needed restraint, 
the uplifting guidance that result in 
character. Jesus attached to himself 
the young people. He had compas- 
sion on their infirmities. He was gentle 
and lenient in respect to the excesses 
that are peculiar to this age. Mean- 
while he was always seeking to win 
them into the better ways, fortify them 
against the assaults of the world, and 
busy them with all sorts of well-doing. 
Have you not observed that Jesus 



$6 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

is popular with the thoughtful social- 
ists of our day ? There is a strength 
and winsomeness about him that 
make instant appeal to the better 
nature. We all have a feeling that 
here is a spirit abundant in life, and 
that life is given for the good of men. 
So we may share it. And as the 
young get this life into the heart, it is 
observed that nothing is taken away 
while much is given, and life itself 
assumes a nobler, grander phase. 
Jesus is the friend of youth. 



V. 

THE FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS FOR 
MEN. 

Men are subject to life's roughest 
warfare. Just as they push into man- 
hood they must fight the fight of purity. 
A little later comes a fight against all 
self-indulgence. Later still the greed 
and passion for place, fortune, honor, 
power must be mastered. Through 
the entire life there are the daily 
temptations to deceit, selfishness, dis- 
honesty, worldliness. The great strug- 
gle in the world is severe and continuous 
so that there is the smallest chance for re- 
lief. Many are the times that men stand 
dazed and helpless. They fail to cope 
with circumstances. Like the dwellers 



38 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

in some valley where the storm sudden- 
ly breaks upon them and carries them 
down to destruction, they are swept 
away and their end is scarcely noted. 
It is worth deep study, this relation 
which Jesus bears to the men he gath- 
ers into the cheer of his Friendship. 
The Master was himself thoroughly a 
man. There are those who think upon 
him as weak, effeminate. He lived a 
life so markedly at variance w T ith the 
common life of his fellows that it is 
sometimes difficult to reconcile it with 
the robust life of a great, successful 
man. But Jesus is the highest type of 
manliness. There is never a trace of 
physical, mental or spiritual infirmity 
about him. The active virtues are all 
manifest in their fullness, while the more 
modest and less attractive passive vir- 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 39 

tues are always at hand to serve his pur- 
poses. He is so perfectly balanced that 
men in their ignorance or passion mis- 
judge him. Being a thoroughly manly 
man, he counts the cost of manhood for 
every brother. And Jesus realizes as 
we do not, that his Friendship for men 
is the secret of every man's true man- 
hood. So you observe how he goes 
among men. He shows that he loves 
them by his every word and work. 
He draws men about him and binds 
them to him. He knows all concern- 
ing toil, care, and-obedience, for he was 
a carpenter by trade. He has a fellow 
feeling for the workman that is wear- 
ied by the day's labor. The same con- 
ditions that are common to men the 
world over are common to him. So 
he gets very close to the comrades 



40 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

that choose to follow him. And how 
sweet is that fellowship which he holds 
with his disciples as they go up and 
down the land preaching the gospel 
and working wonders ? We observe 
the little company together on some 
desert place, or they pass along the 
lake and stop now and then to talk 
about the things of the kingdom, or 
they tarry over night with some ac- 
quaintance, or they gather in public 
places and discuss the prophets and 
the law. Wherever we see them there 
is intimacy. By and by he says to 
these faithful ones ' ' I call you no 
more servants, but friends.'' And all 
the time Jesus draws them nearer to 
himself and confides to them his plans 
and shares with them the deep things 
of the spirit. The design of the Master 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 4 1 

was that these disciples should be pre- 
pared to do a special work. He was 
to commit unto them the interests of 
the kingdom here on earth. His 
Friendship with them therefore had a 
peculiar character. But the point of 
it is that Jesus stood ready to enrich 
every heart with such a privilege and 
lead men out to such a matchless ex- 
perience. This Friendship had for each 
man that which would make him su- 
preme among men. It mattered not 
where or what he was, Jesus was the 
spirit that could do for the individual 
just the thing that would make that 
individual a true man. He came as 
friend for the reason that his 
Friendship was everything to strug- 
gling men. It is much that we 
can go to one who masters the 



42 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

infinite details of our common life 
and gathers into the compass of his 
knowledge all the secret ways of the 
heart. The Master's Friendship is 
such a thing that we may go to him 
with all that concerns life, and we 
shall be directed into the right. And 
it is not alone a matter of guidance. 
He has some real, great power of in- 
fusing life and truth into the soul. He 
never makes one feel that he is unwel- 
come. Whatever the difficulty, we are 
to rely upon the Friendship of Jesus. 
We long for that which such compan- 
ionship can give us as we go into busi- 
ness, pass through trouble, face the 
world's demands. We can see that 
Jesus might do some such service for 
men when he was with them in the 
flesh. But it appears difficult or im- 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 43 

possible that any such service should 
be granted to men who live twenty 
centuries later. It is not a thing 
which can be explained, but the fact is 
all the time asserting itself. Jesus puts 
his life along by the side of our life, or 
pours the force of his life into our life, 
so that we do think of him as present 
with us, doing for us, working in us. 
All the manliness of his great nature is 
made to contribute to our nature. We 
trust him. We reveal ourselves to him. 
We plead his promises and draw upon his 
resources. He did love men. He enjoyed 
their companionship. He made their 
society the relaxation as well as the op- 
portunity of his life. He gained a 
power over the minds of comrades that 
goes back for interpretation to this 
abiding affection. He was all things 



44 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

to men, getting down to the real and 
the true very quickly, and adjusting 
himself with utmost facility to all con- 
ditions. Such is the wealth and com- 
pass of his Friendship to-day. We are 
not to think for one moment that it is 
less now than it was then. How wel- 
come and blessed a thing it is that 
some wise, good friend comes to a man 
when strength and courage are down 
to the lowest point, and by sheer force 
of his vital, inspiring personality, 
kindles fresh hope in the soul and 
brings great incentives to bear upon 
the life, and imparts an enthusiasm of 
purpose, work ? The one that chiefly, 
triumphantly does that kind of a thing 
is Jesus. He makes friends with these 
needful souls that are scattered all 
through the ages and the nations. 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 45 

The unseen Master becomes present. 
His influences diffuse themselves 
through our being. 



VI. 

THE FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS FOR 
WOMEN. 

Beautiful are the incidents which re- 
veal his pure, deep regard for women 
and their strong devotion unto him. 
We observe that in the home of Naz- 
areth this friendship took its rise. 
Love between mother and son grew 
large, so that at the last a mere love of 
a son for his mother was not great 
enough to measure the affection of 
Jesus. He made his mother the 
friend. She became one who sat at 
his feet for instruction, and gave him 
more than the maternal homage- 
When Jesus was upon the cross he 
witnessed to the power of Christian 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 47 

Friendship in committing his mother to 
the care of John, his closest friend. 
There was much in the nature of the 
Master that would appeal successfully 
to the heart of woman. The very 
purity and sanctity of his manhood 
was enough to win favor. Then he 
was uniformly courteous to woman- 
kind. He treated them with such 
deference and consideration that they 
were immediately lifted upon a higher 
plane of privilege and enjoyment. 
Jesus taught their worth as other men 
had never done. The Jews were a 
good deal better than neighbor peoples, 
so far as their treatment of women was 
concerned, but it was left to Jesus to 
give a new character of exalted worth 
and commanding influence to all 
womanhood. It was not only that he 



48 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

was born of Mary and grew up under 
the blessed nurture of that godly 
woman, but it was that he taught the 
world to prize the resources of 
woman's spiritual nature and pay hom- 
age to her divine powers. Woman has 
always been counted as especially 
given to religion. And yet it has been 
an obscure place which she has held. 
Jesus saw that she must be impressed 
into his service. Whether he foresaw 
that the days would come when she 
should be his noblest champion, and 
when her numbers would outstrip 
the numbers of the other sex, we can 
not say ; but this we do know, that he 
was woman's truest friend, that he did 
more for her enfranchisement than any 
other spirit that ever walked upon 
earth. What a picture of Friendship is 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 49 

that which is given us in the home of 
Bethany ? Mary and Martha sent to 
Jesus when the brother died. And as 
the Master stood by the sepulchre and 
observed how heavy was the burden of 
their suffering, he wept with them. 
When the little company once more 
gathered in the familiar home, what 
gifts of noblest affection were inter- 
changed ? We see Jesus forgiving the 
sins of the Magdalen and awakening 
within her the dead and buried im- 
pulses to a great, pure, beautiful life. 
Never a thought but the noblest flits 
through the brain as we observe the 
transfer of power and the manifesta- 
tion of divine life. What a Friendship 
is this, that not only the humblest and 
obscurest woman, but the poorest and 
the wickedest, is noticed by him, helped 



50 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

by him, saved by him, so that the 
whole strength of a depraved nature is 
turned into channels of supreme devo- 
tion unto God ? So the Master comes 
to the life of womankind in its varied 
phases, and shows such wise sympa- 
thy, such healing virtue, such divine 
power that he gathers about him a 
company of beautiful souls. They are 
found among his loyalest supporters. 
They keep him supplied with the nec- 
essary money. They wait upon him 
when it is permitted them to do such 
service. They encourage him with 
their appreciation, and, sacrifice. He 
compensates them for their unswerv- 
ing faithfulness by Friendship. As 
we call to mind these incidents, we do 
not marvel that the women were close 
upon the cross, or that they carried 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 5 1 

spices to embalm the Saviour's body, 
or that they first saw the risen Lord 
on the morn of the resurrection. Jesus 
understood womankind as men did not. 
He knew the heart of the mother, the 
sister, the friend. He could catch the 
mood, interpret the spirit, unravel the 
imagination, master the sentiments, 
measure the impulses of woman as his 
brethren had never learned to do. 
His insight into her nature, his sympa- 
thy with her in trials, his adaptation to 
her needs, his encouragement of her 
nobler self, these things all served to 
command her. Woman found her 
best and strongest friend in Jesus. 

This great service the Master is all 
the time repeating. He has quickened 
the same spirit of affection and loyal- 
ty in the later generations that was 



52 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

manifest when he tarried in the house 
of Bethany. It were difficult to find 
more honorable and inspiring examples 
of Christian fidelity than those record- 
ed of many women. The experience 
of Madame Guyon has been the ex- 
perience of untold millions. As she 
was carried down the river in a frail 
boat- to her place of exile, the storm 
which raged frightened her compan- 
ions. But she remained calm and 
joyous. When she was questioned 
concerning her exalted state, it was 
her all-sufficient reply that the Divine 
Friend was with her, so that there was 
every reason for hopefulness and as- 
surance. It has been this deep, keen 
sense of holy helpfulness which has 
made these worn, burdened souls 
bravely take their part and triumph. 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. $$ 

Jesus in Friendship for Mary of Mag- 
dala, Joanna, wife of Chuza, Susanna, 
Salome, wife of Klopas, Mary, mother 
of James and John, and his own mother, 
and the sisters of Lazarus, in all these 
associations he has prophesied what 
he was to be through the ages. The 
same cheer, peace, strength, joy, pur- 
pose, enthusiasm which he communi- 
cated to these women, he continues to 
inspire in the broadening sisterhood of 
the Christian company. 



VII. 

FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS IN ITS MIN- 
ISTRY TO HUMAN NEED. 

We want the truth. It is not sim- 
ply or chiefly that our curiosity may 
be gratified. Truth is that which must 
be built into manhood. The mind was 
made for it. It is the tool of work. 
To whom shall we go ? "I am the 
truth," says Jesus. So there is brought 
to us the knowledge which concerns 
God, man, destiny. We are not con- 
tent with speculation. Some voice 
must bring us a definite answer. That 
is the service which Jesus performs for 
people. Men have made many repre- 
sentations of God. Some were hand- 
made, others were mind-made. Then 



FRIENDSHIP OE JESUS. 55 

God sought to reveal Himself through 
the word of the prophets and the 
works of providence. But it was not 
until the coming of Christ that God 
was made known unto the world. 
" He that hath seen me hath seen the 
Father." So men had simply to look 
upon Jesus and they came into the 
knowledge of God. 

And the human mind cannot think 
of a being whose nature is more exalted 
or whose character shines with a di- 
viner radiance. The base, harsh ele- 
ments that have been put into current 
ideas of God disappear. A native 
hope that God would manifest himself 
in the flesh is realized. So far as it is 
possible to transfer the divine unto the 
human and give men insight and un- 
derstanding in respect to divinity, to 



56 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

that extent it is done in Jesus. Mean- 
while there is the response of the heart. 
It comes to us over and over again 
that such a being as is revealed to us 
by our Lord is the being that fits into 
life, satisfies nature, fulfils hope, and 
perfects this earth bound spirit. 

It is Jesus likewise that teaches a 
man to know himself. Great are the 
obligations of a person to that helper 
who comes to him with an inspiration 
to better things. There are men whose 
peculiar virtue it is that they perpet- 
ually incite us to the new, earnest life. 
They find the good there is within the 
heart and encourage it to noblest ex- 
pression. They discover a man to 
himself so that he has a fresh faith in 
his God given powers. They woo the 
higher nature into the development and 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 57 

investment of its hidden, splendid re- 
sources, so that many a time the man 
astonishes himself quite as much as he 
does his friends. This is another ser- 
vice which Jesus does for the individ- 
ual. He comes to each one of us and 
shows what a man in all the perfection 
of manhood is. He illustrates the pos- 
sibilities of human nature. While he 
companies with men, he makes them 
feel that they have scarce dreamed the 
heights of power and the magnitude of 
achievement to which all men may at- 
tain. Think what it means to a vicious, 
depraved soul, when some loving, holy 
brother brings him the message and 
impulse of a noble life, makes him 
really feel that he can be all that is 
good and true, makes him feel that 
he must. Now that is what Jesus does 



58 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

for the human spirit. He shows men 
the sublime possibilities of human na- 
ture. He speaks the word of encour- 
agement and inspiration. He quickens 
hope where despair has lurked for 
long. He opens the way and shows 
men how to walk in it. He comes into 
the world with a great enthusiasm for 
humanity and he imparts that enthu- 
siasm to the man himself so that he 
thinks well of himself in the best sense, 
in the sense that he is to make a strong, 
wise, righteous progress toward a man- 
hood like the ideal manhood of Jesus. 
The Master says to him "you see what 
I am. This world has been overcome 
by me. The great powers of heart, 
mind, spirit concealed within human 
nature, they have all been brought into 
largest exercise and noblest fruition. I 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 59 

am man in the fulness of his higher 
nature. And that is what you are to 
be." Jesus comes with just that mes- 
sage. He quickens us into just that 
hope. I know it seems like an im- 
possibility. We have a hard battle to 
fight in order to get and keep our cour- 
age up to the point of continuous effort 
in that direction. But that is part of 
the great work which Jesus does for 
humanity. He begets in us that faith 
in self and faith in God so that we 
really move toward the goal which has 
ever been in the plan of the Almighty. 
And no man knows himself until he 
has learned this best self, has made it 
his intimate and constant friend, has 
become so identified with it that it rules 
the nature and gives prevailing tone to 
character. 



60 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

This knowledge of God and of 
man which Jesus brings to us is 
closely connected with the matter of 
destiny. The men of thought have 
spent life in study of the problems 
which concern the Great Hereafter. 
People like the old Egyptians made 
the Future Life the pivotal thing in 
their religion. We must never forget 
that Moses was skilled in all the learn- 
ing of this cultured nation so that he 
was deeply initiated into the mysteries 
that had to do with Eternity. 

The later Jews themselves discoursed 
upon it with the same eagerness and 
interest that marked the speech of 
Greeks like Plato, or the Egyptians 
like the author of ' ' The Book of the 
Dead." But it was not until Jesus 
came that any distinct and satisfactory 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 6 1 

word was spoken. He spake as one 
having authority. It was not specula- 
tion. He knew what he was talking 
about. The miracles of resurrection 
proved that he had a peculiar relation 
to the other world. His own resurrec- 
tion proved that he was master of 
death itself, so that he might speak 
from experience in respect to the spirit- 
ual realm. He therefore brought im- 
mortality to light. This world is a 
school. Life on earth is a training. 
So runs the current of the Master's 
thought. Death is the great Com- 
mencement Day. The soul is freed 
from the school of earthly life, that 
there may be entrance into that which 
is after all the true, real, native life. 
Men are heaven born ere they are 
earth born. God creates the human 



62 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

spirit, and it is joined to the flesh as a 
matter of convenience. Death returns 
the spirit to its native place and nat- 
ural sphere. It is only when a man 
gets into heaven that he really begins 
to feel at home. That is just where 
he belongs. He has taken his little 
course of necessary instruction and dis- 
cipline. When that is ended he finds 
himself in a realm where speedy ad- 
justment unlocks all his powers, makes 
fresh revelation of capabilities, unfolds 
to him limitless opportunities, and 
promises him untold achievements. 
Now that is human destiny. Nobody 
said it until Jesus came among men. 
We can understand something about 
the meaning of the sacred writer when 
he refers to the power of an endless 
life. Emphasis has been put upon 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 63 

conduct and character. Now it is 
time to emphasize that ampler, 
holier, grander life which flows through 
eternity. It is this knowledge which 
Jesus brings to men. If we seek know- 
ledge of God, man, destiny, we must 
go to Jesus. 

There is a second need of the human 
spirit which we name. We need re- 
demption. Knowledge simply opens 
the eyes to conditions and prospects. 
But we realize the hindrances and dis- 
couragements from the very beginning. 
The Scriptural way of expressing it is 
to say that a man is dead in trespasses 
and sins. 

It means that there is something in- 
side a man and something outside that 
makes it hard or next to impossible for 
him to be good. We are all ready to 



64 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

say that we need some help. We want 
help to get started in the right direc- 
tion. We want it in order to keep in 
that direction when once we have got 
started. The starting in the right direc- 
tion and the keeping in it is what theol- 
ogy calls redemption. Men have tried all 
sorts of teachers and helpers. But their 
teaching and their helping was always 
coming short of human need. It did 
very well for a time, but sooner or 
later it failed to keep its pledges and 
answer expectations. It is Jesus that 
gives a man his start in the God-ward 
direction, and that gives him grace or 
strength to continue when once he has 
made the start. That statement covers 
a large field of theological debate and 
variation which we leave undefined. 
It is sufficient for us to say that human 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 65 

redemption is this getting a man who 
has been going wrong or has a natural 
bent toward the wrong, to go right and 
keep going right until he is perfect as 
our Father in heaven is perfect. 
Jesus does this supreme work. He 
starts us right by renewing us in 
righteousness. He comes into the 
soul and so infuses strength that a man 
is encouraged to his best efforts. 
Jesus keeps with his people. Lo, I 
am with you always. They feel this 
presence and learn to depend upon it. 
Companionship has much to do with 
work and character. It is a law of 
our being that our associations influ- 
ence us and take large part in the de- 
termination of life. The unseen friend 
is all the time communicating his 
divine impulse to us. It is a redemp- 



66 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

tion that concerns the whole man. 
Our very bodies have their part in it. 
This physical nature is termed a con- 
venience, but it has been connected 
with the development of the individual 
in such close way that our Saviour re- 
deems the body itself. It becomes a 
sacred thing, the temple of the Holy 
Ghost, instrument of the soul's activ- 
ity and service. So the body is never 
to be abused. Everything that con- 
duces to health, robustness, power, 
utility is encouraged. There is a con- 
stant strife to get it released from the 
bondage of sin. There is also the re- 
demption of the mind. The Saviour 
would have us understand that every 
invention of the intellect is to be 
sacred. The infinite play and service 
of mind is all the time to be subject 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 67 

to the higher nature. There is noth- 
ing precious and beautiful in art, 
music, poetry, eloquence, thought, which 
is not to be cherished and made 
tributary to manhood. We observe 
how this intellectual nature receives 
a bias for the good and the true. Its 
reach, worth, grasp, are all increased 
and made subservient to God. The 
Almighty endowed men with these 
regal powers of mind in order that they 
might serve him with nobler ambition 
and larger life. The same great 
change is wrought in the will and affec- 
tions. We are told that sin is seated 
chiefly in the will. Jesus works a 
revolution in this part of the man. 
It becomes possible for him to will 
the things that are well pleasing to 
God. We suffer many lapses. We 



68 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

make many mistakes. Yet the general 
drift of purpose and labor is toward 
the right. Evil is present with us, 
but through this service of Jesus the 
good gradually gets the upper hand. 
We will that which pleases God and 
the Master reenforces us in the en- 
deavor to achieve it. Meanwhile a 
man has learned to love that which is 
pure, noble, divine. This new love 
has supplanted the old, something as an 
outcast child's love of degraded sur- 
roundings gives way, through new life, 
unto love of refined and honorable sur- 
roundings. The world in which we 
live assumes a fresh appearance. It 
is man's world in quite other sense 
than we first conceived it. Have we 
not all had a feeling, as we looked out 
upon nature and society, this is all 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 69 

mine, and I am to get out of it what 
my powers will command ? And do we 
not go down to business and pleasure 
with something of this feeling every 
day ? The selfishness of the old 
Adam. But the world belongs to us 
in trust. It is not ours to do with as 
we please. It is ours to do with as 
God pleases. As we are redeemed 
from sin unto righteousness, we grow 
into a sense of privilege and responsi- 
bility. God was in Christ Jesus rec- 
onciling the word unto himself. This 
material setting, and the common cir- 
cumstances of the day, all become the 
instruments for our own development, 
and the progress of the divine king- 
dom. This is the work which Jesus 
came to do. By appointment of the 
Almighty, we have come into the 
world to help do this work. 



70 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

And now that this Master has 
brought us knowledge of God, man, 
destiny ; now that he has redeemed 
us, body, mind, spirit, what further 
need is it that he, alone, in his Friend- 
ship, supplies ? Men need leadership. 
We consciously or unconsciously pin 
our faith to some one as we push into 
the struggle of life. Here is the young 
man filled with unmeasured wealth of 
his vigorous and audacious manhood. 
Has he not some ideal character that 
quickens his mind with enthusiasm, 
or does he not look with affluent hope- 
fulness toward some brother man 
that he has watched in the struggle ? 
And such a person receives his homage. 
Ere he is aware of it, he turns to him 
for leadership. What we want is 
some one who shall lead us to the 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 7 1 

strongest, noblest, successfullest life 
that it is possible for us to achieve. 
It does not take long to discover that 
the leadership of this man and that 
man is something scarce worth our 
trust and dependence. We see defects, 
note failures, observe disappointments. 
As men follow simply men, they awake 
to a consciousness that such leader- 
ship is uncertain, deceptive, paralyz- 
ing. Now Jesus comes among us with 
his infinite grasp upon life, and his 
infinite sweep of nature, and he says : 
''Follow thou Me." It is not chiefly 
that he may give sympathy where it is 
asked, or rest where one is wearied, 
or hope where the heart soil is all gone 
to the weeds of despair. He does 
these things that we have just named. 
But there are a great many people 



72 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

that do not feel the need of such a 
ministry. They are young, ambitious, 
full of resources. What they demand 
is some one to show them how to use 
what they possess, develop the nature 
that riots within them, guide this am- 
plitude of energy and power of enthu- 
siasm into the best channels. So 
Jesus, who was a young man himself, 
abounding in the quenchless and tri- 
umphant spirit of youth while on 
earth, comes to these needful yet self- 
dependent natures, and says : "I am 
the way." He makes us all feel that 
he who knows life and who is life, 
will lead us as no other soul can lead. 
Jesus is a universal leader in his 
mastery of nature. We pride our- 
selves upon our material triumphs. 
But it is well for us to temper our 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 73 

pride with knowledge. There are vari- 
ous ancient peoples that attained to a 
high state of material civilization. 
And there are lost arts which we have 
not yet had the wit to recover. But 
what after all is this progress which we 
have made and which feeds our vanity ? 
Is it not chiefly the knowledge of nat- 
ural forces applied to the common 
needs and energies of life ? The multi- 
plication of labor-saving machines, the 
putting of steam and electricity to har- 
ness so that they serve our ambition, 
the authority to say unto nature * i do 
my bidding and increase the comfort 
and happiness of living," are not these 
the things which feature our age ? 
Now what was it that Jesus did ? He 
multiplied bread until thousands were 
fed. He healed sick folk so that 



74 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

disease fled at his approach. He 
walked upon the sea and compelled 
the waves to quiet at his motion. He 
went hither and thither in a consum- 
mate mastery of nature. We are not 
to pry into the secret of this power. 
The thing we note is the fact that 
Jesus taught how men have just gotten 
into the borderland of natural mystery 
and that there is a vast realm of ser- 
vice which lies ready for human dis- 
covery and possession. He made na- 
ture serve the great ends of his minis- 
try to men. He did not say in so many 
words that the men of later days were 
to perform miracles. But he did say 
by implication that God gave us the 
world to make our own while we live 
and it is for men to do just what God 
told Adam to do, "subdue it." He 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 75 

leads us to-day therefore in this con- 
quest of material things. To be sure 
he did not invent machines or build 
roads or instruct in physics ; but he 
did that which inevitably leads to these 
things. He taught that nature is to 
be constantly impressed into the ser- 
vice of man. He stimulated the fac- 
ulties that are especially concerned in 
that sort of thing. He pointed to a 
victory over the common forces of the 
world that was assured to the man who 
applied his God-given abilities to such 
tasks. At the same time he insisted 
that everything which belongs to the 
earth is to be made tributary unto the 
things which belong to heaven. It 
was the utility of things that he em- 
phasized by his course. Jesus leads a 
man into mastery over the natural 



76 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

world with the sole object of filling his 
hands with the tools that are to be 
used in a nobler mastery. 

Jesus is a universal leader in his 
mastery of mind. One man says that 
Shakspere is the world's poet and that 
he struck the highest, clearest, sweet- 
est notes that ever flowed from lips of 
men. Another says that Plato con- 
tains all philosophy. You find in him 
the seed thoughts of later works upon 
the great problems of being. But who 
calls himself a follower of Plato or 
Shakspere ? We read them and they 
instruct us. A certain culture is 
gathered from their pages. But we 
never turn to them or to any member 
of the literary fraternity for leadership. 
The men that have done most for 
human thought are teachers that scarce 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 77 

wrote a word. And the teacher that 
leads the thought of the world to-day 
is Jesus. Mere songs that float along 
the surface of life may please us, but 
they do not carry us into the depths of 
things. And much that we get in 
books is merely surface matter. Jesus 
never wrote anything so far as we 
know, but he was always thinking 
upon the questions of existence. And 
his thought pierced down to hidden 
interiors and took flight upward to the 
very mind of God, so that he went his 
way burdened with the infinite treas- 
ures of truth. Now this truth treas- 
ure has been scattered through the 
whole world. The Bible in all the 
languages. We have acted wisely and 
righteously in this dissemination of 
the Holy Scriptures. Sometimes sen- 



78 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

sibly and sometimes insensibly, men 
yield to the pressure of the Word. 
Through this Word Jesus makes his 
leadership of mind most manifest. We 
will give men credit for all that they 
attain in mental equipment and vic- 
tory. We are willing to concede that 
Greece was the home of culture ere 
Jesus walked the hills and vales of 
Syria ; and that the Moors fathered 
learning through the dark ages, and 
left the world a beautiful legacy of 
knowledge achievement. But it is 
Jesus that speaks with authority upon 
the matters which chiefly concern 
men. His words set men a-thinking 
as they never thought before. He 
imparts a mental impulse that ab- 
sorbs all streams of thought ; as 
some mighty river, flowing through 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 79 

the land, takes all small, contiguous 
rivulets, into its strong keeping. Jesus 
opens to the mind such realms, he 
supplies the mind with such material, 
that even men who fain would deny 
him as Redeemer confess his mastery 
of mind. It may never have shared 
his expectation that he was to lead 
men in their thought life, and yet it 
is true that Jesus has attained this 
leadership. He came into it some- 
thing as Joseph slipped into the lord- 
ship of Egypt, as a thing of necessity. 
He never planned it, but it was written 
in the book. 

Jesus is a universal leader in his 
mastery of the moral nature. There 
have been many systems of mor- 
ality. Different teachers have wrought 
out schemes that varied in their stand- 



80 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

ards. Some of these schemes of life 
are well worth study. They excite 
nothing but commendation. We might 
quote precepts from the great religions 
of the world that are as humane, as 
honorable, as uplifting as the words of 
Jesus. In fact, many of these princi- 
ples are identical with the principles of 
our Master. He did not claim origin- 
ality. He culled with unsparing hand 
from anything that helped to interpret 
his mind. Jewish Talmud, current 
literature, ancient Bible, he used them 
all with the purpose to set the truth 
most forcibly before his people. But 
it is to be observed that whatever he 
took from the writings of men, he 
made thoroughly his own. He flooded 
the old dispensation with the light of 
the new. Call to mind his treatment 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 



of certain Hebrew laws. ' * Ye have 
heard that it hath been said, an eye 
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ; 
but I say unto you resist not evil ; but 
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right 
cheek, turn to him the other also." 
He takes the old law and lifts it up 
into observation of men, and then en- 
larges its meaning to such an extent 
that it seems like anew law. And yet 
the truth which he draws from the 
wells of Moses is the essential truth of 
all ages, and simply waits for his par- 
ticular drawing of it, and his particu- 
lar distribution of it, through cups of 
crystal clearness, among thirsty people. 
" I came not to destroy but to fulfill," 
says the Master. In this fulfillment he 
lifted the Jewish interpretation of law 
from out its grossness and literalism, 



82 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

and rendered it into the fresh forms of 
largest life. From whatever point of 
view we regard his forth-setting of mor- 
ality, the same exalted standard is 
manifest. Purity is a thing that con- 
cerns primarily the heart condition. 
Integrity is something more than sim- 
ply doing the right. It is a being 
right. The golden rule does not find 
its motive in self-interest, but in a 
divine and vital love that is as deep 
as truth itself and as broad as all 
humanity. So we study precept after 
precept, principle after principle, and 
we learn that they all source themselves 
in one common fountain, just as 
the infinite rays of light which play 
now here, now there, all source them- 
selves in the common sun. And that 
which gives peculiar and irresistible 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 8$ 

force to the moral system of Jesus is 
the fact that he gathers it all into his 
own person, and radiantly lives it be- 
fore men. Herein is revealed his com- 
plete mastery over man's moral na- 
ture, that he is the perfect and sub- 
lime illustration of it, so that men turn 
to him just as naturally for example 
and impulse as the needle turns to- 
ward the magnetic pole. 

Jesus is the universal leader in his 
mastery of the spiritual nature. That 
which has already been said makes the 
approach to the final and trans- 
cendant thing which is to be said 
concerning his leadership. With 
what wistful eyes have we gazed 
toward the future ? How we have all 
felt that there was a divine spark with- 
in us that only needed to be uncovered 



84 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

and cherished when it would become a 
strong, pure flame of white light ; 
and warm, rich beams would radiate 
into the souls of men ? Jesus 
comes among us as the realiza- 
tion of that power which perfects the 
human spirit. These secret out-reach- 
ings and up-lookings are the germs of 
life upon which he works in his quick- 
ening mission and his saving triumph. 
That which we dream of for ourselves 
and desire with faint, despondent 
heart is the thing which Jesus has at- 
tained in his own experience and 
promised shall be given us. He 
comes that he may lead us into the 
same victory that he has gained him- 
self. For we are to be like him. It is 
Jesus that says ' ' come unto me and I 
will give you rest;" that says " he that 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 85 

hath seen me hath seen the Father;" 
that says "this is eternal life that ye 
believe in God and in Jesus Christ, 
whom he hath sent;" that says " I am 
•the way, the truth, the life." And he 
never forsakes his words. He makes 
men feel their force by the touch of his 
spirit and the power of his nature. 
' * In him was life and the life was the 
light of men." That perfection for 
which we long, hope, work, discovers 
itself to us in Jesus. And not only do 
we see it in him, but he keeps drawing 
us towards it in himself. Did he not 
say, ' ' And I, if I be lifted up from 
earth, will draw all men unto me ?" Is 
there not something in the suffering, 
victorious, divine son of man that con- 
tinually urges the aspiring soul into 
imitation ? And so he rises into mas- 



86 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

tery of this spiritual nature, reveals to 
men its vast and noble possibilities, 
excites in us the purpose to achieve a 
like triumph and works within us to 
such effect that we gradually grow into 
his command of life and experience of 
blessedness. It is Jesus alone that has 
taught men the measure of their worth, 
and given men the spirit and truth to 
work out their own salvation. The 
great, deep cry of the human spirit has 
been answered by God in Christ. 
14 Howbeit that was not first which 
is spiritual, but that which was natu- 
ral ; and afterward that which was spir- 
itual." It is a progress from the lower 
to the higher, a progress from the frail 
and tender beginning of life to the 
large and precious fruition of years. 
Through it all it is Jesus that leads. 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 87 

The higher nature ripens in him. He 
is in men, the hope of glory. 

And do you ask to what and to whom 
does our leader lead us ? We can see 
that Jesus leads out the _ best that is in 
the man. It is something like what 
you observe in the springtime when all 
nature is aglow and palpitant with life. 
Hidden beneath some thick and tyran- 
nous covering there lie the promiseful 
flowers. Take off the covering and 
lead out the plants, so shall they 
brighten the garden with their beauty 
and laden the air with their fragrance. 
Jesus uncovers hidden, crushed virtue; 
he leads out oppressed, flesh bound as- 
piration or purpose. They are en- 
couraged to grow and blossom and 
yield fruit. But it is not so much that 
Jesus leads out the best that is within 



88 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

us as it is that he leads us out unto the 
best. Life has all sorts of goals and 
objects presented that invite its loy- 
alty. But Jesus leads us out unto that 
which is supreme in life. Nothing 
less than a being perfect even as the 
Father in heaven is perfect will satisfy 
the inmost need and expectation of the 
spirit. This it is which Jesus gives us 
as the best in life. And then he leads 
us on the way to such achievement. 
It is not enough for him to show what 
we are and what w 7 e ought to be. 
The definite aim and determination be- 
ing quickened within us, he takes us by 
the hand and helpfully guides us to our 
great destiny. There are many rough 
places to pass through. There are 
many large burdens to bear. There 
are days of storm and nights of gloom. 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 89 

And still the Master leads us on. He 
has trodden the perilous, battlesome 
way, and with strong hand, confident 
spirit, loving heart he leads us safely 
through. And then he leads us up to 
God himself. Is not this the very 
thing which he has had in mind from 
the beginning ? You and I have a feel- 
ing that there is a mission of fulfill- 
ment common to each one of us. We 
must fulfill the law of our being or we 
live our life to vain and trivial end. 
Must not every grace and virtue, there- 
fore, every good impulse and motive, 
every pure thought and high purpose 
work itself into perfect form ? How 
many divine ambitions are nipped in 
the bud by the frosts of this world. 
Jesus leads us up unto God, in whom 
there shall be the realization of all that 



90 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

is good and the fulfillment of nature's 
grandest prophesies. He leads us up 
unto God, where the soul is satisfied, 
the mind exalted, the heart thronged 
with holy loves, and the entire nature 
made to glow with the richness, the 
beauty, the power of Divinity itself. 

Men get color from associations 
something as many insects, reptiles, 
birds, are said to take color from their 
field or forest surroundings. But with 
men it is more than skin deep. The 
heart and mind themselves are 
changed. So it has been said that life, 
to be at its best, must have the im- 
pelling power of Friendship working its 
changes upon character. John, the 
apostle, who starts in life with the 
name, Son of Thunder, becomes the ripe, 
aged saint, repeating, over and over 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 9 1 

again to his flock, the memorable 
words : ' ' Little children, love one 
another." Thomas a Kempis' "Imi- 
tation of Christ," is the fruit of love. 
In it we read perennial testimony to 
the enrichment of a heart that draws 
upon the Friendship of Jesus. 

' ' It doth not yet appear what we 
shall be," writes the intimate friend of 
our Lord ; ' ' but we know that when 
he shall appear we shall be like him." 
' ' Friendship either finds men equal, or 
makes them so." In this fact there 
is given the assurance that we shall grow 
into his likeness. It is as a man relies 
upon the Friendship of Jesus that all the 
wealth of counsel, stimulation of ex- 
ample, sharing of his resources, im- 
partation of his life naturally follows. 
The Friendship not only proves a con- 



92 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

stant spur to well doing, but it be- 
comes the very secret of well being. 
Virtue is perpetually diffusing itself 
from the Master, something as sweet 
odors scatter from the roses, or rays 
of light float off from the sun. The 
influences are all treasured and worked 
into the texture of the spirit. In the 
end there must inevitably result a life 
that is akin to the divine life. Christ 
is the vine. His people are the 
branches. 

We may count it, then, as man's 
most precious privilege, this Friend- 
ship of Jesus. He who is the way, 
the truth, the life, and is the same 
yesterday, to-day, and forever, tarries 
with us all through time. We live as 
seeing him who is invisible. He 
walks with the faithful soul into all 



FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 93 

the toil and difficulty of the world. 
He goes into the home to sanctify it 
and impart to it an atmosphere of love. 
He meets the children and youth in 
their hours of work or play that they 
may turn their confidence toward 
him. He is present on festive occa- 
sions to show us how we may get the 
largest, purest joy from life. He 
brings infinite sympathy unto sorrow, 
and pilots the foot-sore, trouble-har- 
rassed traveler, through every storm 
of circumstances. 

It is the Friendship of Jesus that 
supports Stephen through the an- 
guishful hour of martyrdom. It pours 
for Augustine the cup of hope which 
he quaffs in place of the cup of despair. 
It is the Friendship of Jesus which in- 
spires the work of Fra Angelica as 



94 FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 

he kneels, with brush in hand, before 
his pictures. His Friendship is inter- 
preted by poets and singers in the hymns 
and chorals of the ages. It is the Friend- 
ship of Jesus that imparts a sacred, lofty 
character to labor and enterprise, mak- 
ing the workman feel that fidelity in the 
humblest or grandest vocations is 
simply its natural, beautiful outcome. 
It is his Friendship which moves the 
soul to the most trivial acts of love as 
well as sublimest expressions of heroism. 
It is the Friendship of Jesus that en- 
ables men to solve the mystery of life 
and triumph over the power of death. 
Jesus leads to the mastery of nature 
and mind. He leads to the mastery of the 
moral and the spiritual. He leads out the 
best that is within the man. He leads a 
man out unto that which is the best. 






FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. 95 

He leads one on through the wilder- 
ness of the soul's wandering. He 
leads one up to the living God. This 
is the Friendship of Jesus, in its min- 
istry to human need. 



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